This week’s innerview reminded me how lucky most of us poocheroos are to have loving Forever Famlys an never hafta worry about havin’ foodstuffs an water an a comfy bed an toys an snacks. We take all that for granite. But lots of pooches don’t. Pooches like Merry Alderman.
Merry’s a pretty black an white grrrl, 4 anna half, she figures. She was one of about 200 pooches who were rescued from Puerto Rico after that scary hurricane, Maria, back in September 2017. Human egg-sperts say Maria was a CAT 5, which, I found out, has nothing to do with ackshull cats: the 5 part means it was Very, Very Bad.
Soon as the door opened, Merry came flyin’ up, leapin’ an barkin’ like a liddle black-an-white CAT 5 hurricane, with a lady right behind her.
“Good afternoon,” I said, bracing myself. “Miss Merry, I presume?”
Woof, could that liddle pooch jump. An bounce.
“BARK! BARK! BARKIDDY BARK, BARK, BARK!”
The lady showed us to the couch. Merry did a bunch more leaps.
“I admire your energy, Miss Merry,” I said, steadying my notebook. “An you certainly have a lovely, strong voice.”
By then, the lady had hooked the leash on, an Merry had come to a stop. A wiggly stop.
“Oh, Mr. Bonzo! I get SO ex-CITED when I meet new pooches an HUE-muns. I LOVE comp-nee but I guess I do get a teeny bit too ex-ZOO-buh-rent.”
She trotted over for the Wag-an-Sniff. “It was SO Crazy Kibbles scary when that hurry-cane came, anna buncha us pooches got separated from our famlys, an our homes got washed away, an we were wanderin’ around totally lost. Oh, poo, I forgot to innerduce you. This is my Mom, Pam. My Dad, Ira, is elsewhere.”
“No worries, Miss Merry. You went through a lot. How did you finally find your Forever Famly?”
“OK, so, all us hurricane pooches got scooped up from Puerto Rico. We got put inna big sorta BIRD, which was scary at first, but we were dry an safe so that was OK. Then we flew in the sky, an ended up inna a shelter, Tri-County Animal Rescue, in a place called Rat’s Mouth. The humans use the Spanish name, I guess it sounds better. I know cuz I’m tri-lingual. Dog, human English, an human Spanish.”
“Pawsome, Miss Merry!”
“Anyway, Mom had NEVER had a dog. Amazing, right? They’d just moved here, an once they settled in, Dad wanted a dog. Mom was, like, OK, but not a big one. They both wanted a rescue pooch, thank Lassie, so they started looking an found my pickshur on the Tri-County website, an drove down to check me out. By then I was all tidied up an lookin’ good, I must say.
“As soon as we saw each other, Mr. Bonzo, I knew it was Meant To Be. They were kind an fun, an they ’preciated how playful (an smart) I was. They ’dopted me the day after New Year’s. I admit I was pretty nervus at first, inna new place an all. I was shakin’ like a leaf all the way home. It took a liddle while for me an Mom to get use to each other. Now I’m a Momma’s Grrrl. Dad’s the one who makes me behave. We wrestle around a lot. I’m not a snuggly, lapdog kinda grrrl, but I always want Mom an Dad nearby. If they’re doin’ other stuff an I wanna play, I bug them – er – skillfully convince them – to stop what they’re doin’ an play with me.” Merry lowered her voice. “Ackshully, Mr. Bonzo, I Rule the Roost.”
“My shelter name was Mary, and both Mom an Dad’s moms were also Mary. Which was a lotta Marys. They didn’t wanna confuse me by changin’ my name, so they just changed the spelling.”
“What’s life like now?” I asked. “Any special pooch pals?”
“I love makin’ new pooch frens. My nextdoor snowbirddog neighbor Bernie’s my BFF. He’s a MIX-ture, an also a rescue from Puerto Rico like me. Me an another neighbor, Rusty, hang out a lot, too. He’s a Dashchund mix. I go to Paw Prints day care two times a week an have The Best Time runnin’ around with all the other pooches. I boss ’em around, but they’re cool with it. Other than Mom an Dad, my best human pal is my brother Tyler. He’s great at roughhousin’. I don’t like ridin’ in the car, ’cept when we go visit Tyler in Gainesville. My human sister Donna’s bloodhound Maggie lives in South Carolina. She’s older than me an way mellow. When I get a liddle too bouncy, she just sorta bats me away. I don’t take offense, though.
“When Mom an Dad go away, I stay in my cozy kennel. When I see Mom getting dressed up, I know she’s goin’ out, so I go get in my kennel. Sometimes I just like to hang out in it, even when they’re here. I have my favrite knotted rope an my heavy-duty toys to chew on. I’m a very enthusiastic chewer. Before I learned the House Rules, I chewed some of Mom’s clothes. I no longer do that.
“As you perhaps noticed, I am very athletic.”
An understatement, I thought, nodding.
“I get four walks every day. If it wasn’t for the constraints of my leash, I’d be chasin’ those liddle lizards. Me an my pooch pals agree those silly twerps are totally irresistible. Inside, I enjoy running full speed up an down the hallway. Dad says I gallop. I’m not at all fond of water (except in my dish), probly cuzza my hurry-cane experience, but I love my bath an mani-pedi at Paw Prints. I do enjoy being a grrrl.”
Heading home, I was thinkin’ about charmin’, barky, bouncy, uber-energetic Merry, a rescue pooch who overcame a lotta scary stuff, never gave up, an found her Forever Famly. Dog, I love happy endings, don’t you?
Till next time,
The Bonz